Office of U.S. Senator Deb Fischer
Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned Dan Driscoll at the confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of the Army.
During the hearing, Senator Fischer asked Driscoll about increasing munitions production, meeting the demands of modern warfare, and increasing the Army’s recruitment efforts.
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On Increasing America’s Munitions Production:
Senator Fischer: The last several years – from the war in Ukraine and the U.S. response to Iranian and Houthi attacks in the Middle East – really has demonstrated just how quickly munitions are expended in modern conflicts. If confirmed, will you commit to reviewing our current stockpile requirements for Army munitions to ensure our stockpiles are right-sized for modern conflicts, especially for potential conflicts that would last more than a few weeks?
Dan Driscoll: Absolutely, Senator. And this is a topic that you and I talked about. I think what we have learned in Ukraine and with some of the other conflicts is it’s no longer sufficient to build up a munition supply, put it on the shelf over 20 years and hope that we guessed the right amount that we or our allies or our friends would need. We have got to have an industrial base that is able to scale with us. I thank this committee for this work on 155 munitions and getting it going again. But we have to do more. And if confirmed, I would want to work with this committee and your office, Senator, to do a deep dive on this.
Senator Fischer: You know since the Cold War, we’ve, I think, seen this pattern of feast and famine. You know when there’s conflict, the first couple years we boost up production and then we let it slide. And I don’t believe we can continue to have that kind of pattern there. You said you’d work with Congress, that you’d work with the committee on that. Just what do you think, off the top of your head since we had the discussion, what do you believe is a path forward that you would suggest to this committee? And do we have the necessary resources available to be able to accomplish that currently, do you think?
Dan Driscoll: Senator: to the resource question, I would need to take a deeper dive once briefed, if confirmed, to what we could do. I think the United States has an incredible history of agile and innovative manufacturing. It has decayed as a nation over the last couple of decades, but it’s still there. The American people will be with us if we include them. I think if you look at the private sector in the innovation loop, we do have some case studies of being able to create things with soldiers, having coders with them in the field, and actually updating products and getting it back to the manufacturing floor with a much tighter innovation loop. I think we can do that working together and it could make an incredible difference.
Senator Fischer: Do we have the authorities to be able to accomplish that now? Or do you think that you would need more authority to be able to move us quickly forward?
Dan Driscoll: I think we do have the authorities, Senator.
On Meeting the Demands of Modern Warfare:
Senator Fischer: Mr. Driscoll, small drones and UAS, they’re undoubtedly going to play a key role in future conflicts. But where do you see opportunities to expand the Army’s use of those drones and unmanned systems?
Dan Driscoll: Well, I think, Senator – and it was incredibly great talking to you about this – it has changed how warfare is fought. When I did armor school, the way we have designed much of our equipment – our tanks in particular – our tanks are built to receive fire from the front or indirect fire from the top. They are not built to receive it from the rear or the back corner. So, there are soft spots all over our tanks, which are some of our most dependable fighting machines that very cheap drones rigged with very cheap explosives can exploit. And I think we saw this with the Russian invasion in Ukraine, that a lot of the way that we have thought about how to fight will have to change because of drones – both large and small, with swarms. We can no longer shoot $4 million missiles to take down a $400 drone. That math, just simple math, doesn’t add up. We’re going to have to find solutions, whether it’s directed energy or whatever it is, that can have a cost-effective way to provide security.
Senator Fischer: You answered my second part of the question on how we’re going to make sure it is cost effective because right now it is not.
On Improving Army Recruitment:
Senator Fischer: We see tremendous challenges with recruiting in the Army across all services. What is your current assessment right now of the Army’s recruiting challenges and how would you address them?
Dan Driscoll: My sense is, for the last three or four years, we have missed our goals. I believe, even the goals we hit, from the outside it seems as if the Army lowered their goals. The best analogy that I heard is the Army threw the dart at the dart board and then drew the bullseye around where the dart landed. That’s not a great way to staff an Army. We have the fewest number of active-duty soldiers that we have had since WWII right now. Conflict is erupting around the world. I think there is a story to tell of the United States Army that young people want to hear, and I think we have complicated that story a bit over the last couple of years. I actually don’t think it is throwing more money at the problem. I think it’s nice to get things like the GI Bill. I got to use the GI Bill. But I didn’t enlist for that. I enlisted because I wanted to go serve my country. And I think young people stand by ready for us to tell that story again in a compelling way. And if confirmed, I look forward to working with you to tell that story.
Senator Fischer: Thank you. I look forward to working with you.